Active Shooter Stats

FBI RELEASES NEW ACTIVE SHOOTER STATS & DATA

1-28-16

The FBI has recently released new active shooter stats and data that led to a decision for the Air Force to allow Airmen to carry personal weapons on and off duty. Key points of the research show that over 40% of shootings from 2000-2013 were stopped by someone other than law enforcement. These active shooter stats must be taken into account that the lump sum are 13 years in the making and 2014 and 2015 double the number in two combined years. Another notable issue is the FBI only considers an active shooter incident is factually analyzed when four or more people are killed by shooter with X injured.

In 37 incidents (23.1%), the shooter committed suicide at the scene before police arrived.

In 21 incidents (13.1%), the situation ended after unarmed citizens safely and successfully restrained the shooter. In 2 of those incidents,

3 off-duty law enforcement officers were present and assisted.

Of note, 11 of the incidents involved unarmed principals, teachers, other school staff and students who confronted shooters to end the threat (9 of those shooters were students).

In 5 incidents (3.1%), the shooting ended after armed individuals who were not law enforcement personnel exchanged gunfire with the shooters. In these incidents, 3 shooters were killed, 1 was wounded, and 1 committed suicide.

The individuals involved in these shootings included a citizen with a valid firearms permit and armed security guards at a church, an airline counter, a federally managed museum, and a school board meeting.

Here is the “good” part of the stats. The bad side of the issue is they left out were the “blue on blue” shootings where unmannered officers / citizens trying to stop the aggressors are shot as perceived suspects. *this is one of several issues being discussed during the evolution of training principles to “fix” response tactics and opens discussion into policy methods that have previously been absent.

In two (2) incidents (1.3%), two (2) armed, off-duty police officers engaged the shooters, resulting in the death of the shooters. In 1 of those incidents, the off-duty officer assisted a responding officer to end the threat.